Falk, Richard

International Law/International Relations

Richard Falk’s views are not those of the two dominant paradigms of international politics, realism and liberalism. I have once called him a “Groatian eclectic.” Michael Reisman has suggested that Falk follows the “New Haven School” of policy oriented, legal approaches while Joseph Nye characterized Falk’s thought as cosmopolitan, where individuals and peoples control world order, rather than states. Clearly, this complicated theorist and policy activist does pick and choose between the norms of the Westphalian system that is supposed to protect all states equally but fails in actual practice. Falk does follow the New Haven School to the extent that he believes states can combine both domestic and international legal principles, but is skeptical that the preferred policies will not predictably be made to coincide with those of powerful states. Falk also does support cosmopolitan ideals, but remains chary that international laws will not become...

Falk R, MacBride S et al (1983) Israel in Lebanon: the report of the international commission to enquire into reported violations of international law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. Ithaca Press, London, 294 ppGoogle Scholar